Birmingham Egyptology

Please join us for the Sixth Annual Birmingham
Egyptology Symposium, ‘Belief and Identity in the ancient World’ which will be
held in the Murray Learning Centre (Room UG10) at the University of Birmingham.

Our
free event features a range of presentations from students and academics on
ancient Egyptian belief and identity relating to language, art, funerary
practices, and both ancient and modern perspectives of Egyptian identity. We
are lucky to also have a wide range of speakers from the UK and abroad joining
us for this symposium!

Refreshments,
lunch and a wine reception will also be provided.

As
part of our event, we would like to offer delegates the opportunity to join us
for an optional free tour of the Eton Myers collection, on loan from Eton
College and currently held within the Orchard Learning Resource Centre,
University of Birmingham. This tour will take place on the evening of Thursday
30th May (6pm-7pm). If you would like to attend this in addition
to the Symposium, please select the ‘BE Symposium Delegate PLUS Eton Myers
tour’ ticket from the options below. We will email you with further details of
this tour in due course.

Our
event will be promoted through our website, Facebook and Twitter, but we would
be grateful if delegates could share this event with anyone whom you think
might be interested in attending. We very much look forward to meeting you at
our Symposium!

Further information about travelling to the
University can be found below:

TRAINS: The campus has its own train station,
‘University’, with trains going to and from Birmingham New St in the city
centre around every 10 minutes. Going from the city, take a train towards
Longbridge or Redditch. University is two stops, approximately an 8-minutes
journey, and should cost no more than £3.90 for a return ticket.

BUSES: The nearest bus stop to the campus which serves buses to and from the
city centre to the University Campus is that at the junction of Bristol Road
and Edgbaston Park Road (the South Gate of the University)
– near the Orange Zone on the campus map. Take the no. 61 or 63 from stop NS3
(on St. Martins Queensway, near New Street station and the Bullring shopping
centre). There is major work going on at Bristol Road at the moment, so
services X20, X21 or X22 will also take you to the North Gate of the
University, which is a short 5 minute walk to the Murray Learning Centre.

The University of Birmingham is organising the 6th Annual Birmingham Egyptology Symposium: ‘Belief and Identity in the Ancient World’, which will take place on Friday 31st May 2019 at the University of Birmingham, UK.

We invite abstract submissions from postgraduates and independent researchers pertaining to the individual’s interpretation of the above theme, which can include, but is not limited to, archaeology, art, language, history, religion, restoration, epigraphy, cultural memory, and modern perspectives of belief and identity. We are also eager to receive contributions from other disciplines and encourage individuals to consider the theme within a broader geographical scope. Presentations may take the form of a 20-minute paper AND/OR an A0 research poster.

Abstracts should be a maximum of 300 words, to be submitted by Friday 5th April 2019 at 5pm to: besymposium2019@gmail.com Confirmation of the decision will be emailed by Monday 15th April.

Following the Symposium, presenters will be invited to submit their papers or posters as articles to be considered for publication in the Birmingham Egyptology Journal.

NB Presenters must make their own arrangements for transportation of posters, when applicable.

Contact us at besymposium2019@gmail.com to register your interest or ask any questions.

Two PGR students from the University of Birmingham recently attended the recent two-day colloquium at the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge on ‘Reuse, Appropriation and Ownership in ancient Egypt’.

McDonald Institute at the University of Cambridge where the colloquium took place.

The event included talks from a range of international speakers, a visit to the Fitzwilliam Museum storerooms to view objects which had potentially been repurposed, and concluded with the Glanville Lecture of 2019 presented by Dr Koen Donker van Heel.

Many of the presentations and subsequent discussions explored issues of reuse, usurpation/appropriation, and reassigning of specific objects from coffins to statues and tomb decoration, and what this meant in terms of ownership, belief, and identity in their ancient contexts. Discussion sessions often came back to complex issues such as terminology and the need to understand reuse as a practice that was not confined to the New Kingdom/Third Intermediate Period era, though much of our attention typically focuses on these periods. Viewing objects in detail such as the Fitzwilliam’s collection of coffins, like that of Nespawershefyt, also enhanced the discussion!

A recent publication on the coffin of Nespawershefyt from the Fitzwilliam Museum

It was a pleasure to attend the colloquium, and we are very thankful to Helen Strudwick and the organisers for providing support for us to be able to attend.

Birmingham Egyptology are pleased to announce that the 6th Annual Birmingham Egyptology Symposium will be held at the University of Birmingham on Friday 31st May 2019.

The theme will be ‘Belief and Identity in the Ancient World’. The organising committee invite papers from postgraduate students and independent researchers pertaining to their individual interpretations of this theme. This may include, but is not limited to: archaeology, art, language, history, religion, restoration, epigraphy, cultural memory, and modern perspectives of belief and identity.

Presentations may take the form of a 20-minute paper AND/OR an A0 research poster. Abstracts (maximum of 300 words) must be submitted via email to: besymposium2019@gmail.com by Friday 1st March 2019 at 5pm.The full Call for Papers can be viewed here: BE Call for Papers Poster 2019.

Confirmation of the decision will be emailed by Monday 11th March 2019. Following the Symposium, presenters will be invited to submit their papers or posters as articles to be considered for publication in the Birmingham Egyptology Journal.

NB Presenters must make their own arrangements for transportation of posters, when applicable.

For further information, to register your interest or if you have any queries about this event, please contact us at the above email address.

The first session will focus on Egyptian mythology and its reception in the modern media through popular stories and conspiracy theories, looking both at ancient evidence for mythology and media coverage of ancient Egypt. This includes modern news stories and the methods of reporting on news and theories relating to ancient Egypt such as the recent sarcophagus discovery, as well as the well known theories on Egyptian time travel, aliens, and more! Please do come along with your favourite myth about ancient Egypt, whether based on fact or fiction, for discussion.

Refreshments will be provided. We will also share our plans for the term including new events, plans for the Symposium, and much more to come!

We hope to see you there.

For future Forum session dates and topics, please see the attached poster: BE Poster for 1819

The British Museum’s Annual Colloquium for 2018 was centred on ‘Displaying Egypt’, including sessions focusing on context, audience, the circulation of knowledge, transforming collections and reflections on the nature of exhibitions, both permanent and temporary. The event also featured the Raymond and Beverly Sackler Distinguished Lecture in Egyptology, presented by Professor Stephanie Moser from the University of Southampton, and the keynote closing lecture by Dr Tarek Tawfik from the Grand Egyptian Museum (the programme and abstracts for the event can be found here, and it is also worthwhile searching #DisplayingEgypt on Twitter for live tweets and discussion throughout the event).
The colloquium was particularly stimulating for its discussion of the nature of museum collections of ancient Egyptian objects, their perception from Victorian to modern times (including a particularly fascinating talk on the representations of ancient Egypt via Egyptian social media), and the nature of particular collections of artefacts such as mummies (or mummified people) and use of photography, digital technology, and so on. The colloquium brought together a range of academics, museum professionals, historians, archaeologists, graduates, students and more, all interested in various aspects of Egyptology, museum collections and curation, and how we present Egyptian history in public displays. Interesting conversations on a wide range of relevant topics such as colonialism, context and acquisition and progression of displays took place throughout both days. It was clear that further discussion and research will continue to inform current practice on the nature of displaying Egypt; not only in how we can better understand this ancient culture and effectively present its history through museum collection displays, but also how we may address modern perceptions and the desires of modern audiences.

The Call for papers for the Annual Egyptian Colloquium for September 2019 has now been announced, entitled: ‘Amarna: the lived city’. Further information including deadline and submission details can be found here. This event will include a keynote lecture by Professor Barry Kemp of the Amarna Project.

The event includes workshops for PGR/ECRs including sessions on careers in museums and publishing: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/tea-with-the-sphinx-pgrecr-workshops-tickets-45059319638. This same day also includes a networking event open to all delegates: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/tea-with-the-sphinx-networking-evening-tickets-45059544310